EPL: Arsenal Win At Depleted Leeds

Another three points in the bags for Arsenal as they rode to an easy 1-4 win at Elland Road in what would have been the last game of the day, but turned out to be the first and only one on Saturday, after the earlier matches were postponed due to Covid-19 outbreak in the camps of some of the teams involved.

Gabriel Martinelli grabbing his first ever brace for Arsenal gave the visitors the lead before Bukayo Saka added a third in a game the Gunners dominated all through.

Lack of concentration made them concede a penalty after the break, but thanks to Emile Smith Rowe, who came off the bench for the second successive game to seal the win.

Despite the several injury and Covid-19 worries among several clubs, Arsenal seem to be having their lucky time as they had no Covid-19 issues prior to the game (until Albert Sambi Lokonga was announced positive after the game) which allowed Mikl Arteta name the same side that started against West Ham in midweek. With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang still frozen out of the team, Alexandre Lacazette continued to lead.

Unlike his counterpart, Marcelo Bielsa' was very unlucky as he had just nine first team players fit which included two goalkeepers, before eventually losing Jack Harrison to injury during the game, leaving him with eight first team players.

Arsenal picked the game by the horn from the start and could have gone ahead on two different occasions, all thanks to Ilan Muslier, who kept the away side out.

Martin Odegaard threaded a pass to Lacazette, whose low shot was well saved by Meslier. Saka followed with the rebound from close range, which looked like it was destined for the back of the net, but he only managed to shoot wide of the right post. Meslier then denied Thomas Partey from an effort from the inside right channel.

The pressure would eventually tell in the 16th minute. Leeds had lost the ball, allowing Saka race into their box and found Lacazette, who tried to find Granit Xhaka. The Switzerland captain lost the ball under pressure from Matuesz Kilch and the ball was picked up by Adam Forshaw, but his pocket was picked by Lacazette, making the loose ball roll to Martinelli, who fired into the net.

The lead was doubled for the visitors 12 minutes later when Xhaka easily split the Leeds defence open to release Martinelli, who raced towards goal and clipped his effort past Meslier.

More goals could have been scored before the end of th first half as Odeegard from a shooting range decided to play the ball out wide to Lacazette on the inside left and the Frenchman's effort was blocked by Meslier.

It was three with three first half minutes left. Saka with a lot of space on the left found his way to the edge of the Leeds box, before his rifled effort deflected off Luke Ayling for their third goal.

There seemed to be light at the end of the tunnel for the home side when they were awarded a penalty with a quarter of an hour to play. Ben White had brought down Joe Gelhardt with a loose challenge and Raphinha converted the resulting spot kick to give the hosts a hope of a comeback.

Should they have scored one more perhaps, there could have been drama in the closing stages, but six minutes after coming on in the 78th, Smith Rowe made sure there was none of that as he was at the end of an Arsenal counter, volleying in Odeegard's pass to seal the win.

Concluding Thoughts

Though it was a comfortable win for Arsenal, I feel the scoreline is a bit flattering for Leeds United, given the profligacy of Arsenal in the final third.

The one that readily comes to mind amidst others was the chance for Arsenal to add a fourth in the first half when Odeegard decided to pass, rather than go for goal. In more competitive games, that could have been a game changer.

They had no business conceding in that game and if I were Aaron Ramsdale, I would tear into the defence for conceding a penalty in a game, where the opponent struggled to even get shots on target. Playing against a depleted Leeds side, they should have taken advantage and try to increase their goal difference which had been negative until now.

I do not envy Marcelo Bielsa at this time in any way and no manager would have wished to be in his shoes. He practically had just one player, Crysencio Summerville, who had Premier League experience on the bench.

_Seeing his side conceding 11 goals in their last two matches is definitely worrying. Despite not really having any Covid-19 cases, he'd be one of those to benefit immensely should the league take a decision to break due to the pandemic outbreak, which looks very unlikely. _